25th February 2005

Rajamouli slashes remuneration
In a healthy and generous gesture, Raja Mouli - the hotshot director who delivered three continuous blockbusters Student No.1, Simhadri and Sye - has slashed his remuneration for his latest film Chatrapati starring Prabhas. It is reliably learnt that Prabhas also slashed his remuneration for this film. By doing so, this director-hero duo made sure that budget stays in stipulated limits. It may be noted that Rajamouli has charged a very nominal remuneration for Sye film as well. Let us hope that few of our budget-fetish directors take a cue from Rajamouli and bring smiles to producers.

Larsco Sridhar on a roll
Lagadapati Sridhar- producer of Larsco Entertainments that delivered Evadi Gola Vadidi recently - is planning to produce 2 films every year. He would be producing a film each in the direction of Neelakanta and N Shankar. The talks are on for films to be directed by Gowtam (of Gharshana fame) and Gandhi Krishna (of Prema Chadarangam fame).

Mumbai Express in Telugu
Kamal Hassan's latest film in the direction of Singeetam Srinivasa Rao is being titled as 'Mumbai Express'. Manisha Koirala is playing female lead. Dubbing rights for Telugu version of this film Kousalyendra Rao who produced Swarabhishekam on Rajarajeswari banner. This film would be simultaneously released in Telugu, Tamil and Hindi on the same day in April 2005.

24th February 2005

Chakram on 25th March
Krishna Vamsi - Prabhas combination film Chakram is hitting marquee on 25th of March 2005. Audio of this film was released on 18th of February and got good appreciation. Chakri scored music. This film sports Asin and Charmy in the female leads. Siva Raju and Venkata Raju are producing this film on Geeta Chitra International banner. Krishna Vamsi is tight lipped about the details of this film.

Teja given 2 gunmen
After filing a police complaint about the alleged threat to his life over Dhairyam row, director Teja is given a couple of gunmen as security cover by police department.

Rajnikant's film in trouble
Rajnikant's latest Telugu/Tamil film is an official remake of Kannada blockbuster Apta Mitra (Vishnu Vardhan and Soundarya), which in turn is remake of a Malayalam flick. KK Movies is going to dub this Apta Mitra and release in Telugu as 'Nagavalli'. This film was the last film of Soundarya in Kannada. With Nagavalli's release around the corner, Rajnikant's film might get in trouble with storyline being leaked to everybody.

Sravanamasam in USA
The USA theatrical exhibition rights of Posani Krishna Murali's multistarrer Sravanamasam (Krishna, Hari Krishna, Karthikeya, Gajala, Kalyani) are bagged by Crowd DVD from Volga. This movie is expected to hit the marquee in USA in the first week of March 2005. This film is releasing in India on 26th Feb. For screening in USA, please contact Vishnu @ 713-446-9638 or Soma @ 916-730-5449.

22nd February 2005

Shankar Dada MBBS 125 days function held
125 days function of Shankar Dada MBBS was held in a grand style at the college grounds in Narsapur on 20th of this month. K Raghavendra Rao attended as chief guest. Allu Arvind, Nagababu, Srikanth, and other politicians attended the function. Chiranjeevi could not attend the function due to security reason. However, Chiranjeevi spoke to fans through telephone. Chiranjeevi said that he got confidence that he would become an actor in the same college of Narsapur after winning best actor award for 'Rajinama' stage play in 1975.

NTR's film talkie over
Talkie part of NTR's film in the direction of B Gopal is complete. A song was picturized on NTR and Sameera Reddy between 18th and 21st of this month at 3 different sets erected in Ramoji Film City. Another song is being currently picturized on NTR and Sameera Reddy now. Mani Sharma provided music. Shooting of 4 more songs is left. This film would be releasing from Summer 2005.

Radha Gopalam audio CD released
Audio CD of Bapu's latest classic Radha Gopalam was released into market on 21st of Feb. Music scored by Mani Sharma has got tremendous appreciation. K Anil is producing this film on Sri Creations banner with Srikanth and Sneha in the main leads. Mullapudi Venkatramana provides dialogues and story. Nagababu presents this film. Radhagopalam is releasing on 24th of this month.

4 films release this week
This week is witnessing releases of 4 films. These films are -

20th February 2005

Allu Arjun as Bunny (powerful boy)
The title of Allu Arjun's film is almost confirmed as Bunny (powerful boy). Incidentally Bunny is the nickname of Allu Arjun in real life. Devi Sri Prasad scored music. Allu Arvind is presenting this film. M Satyanarayana Reddy is producing this film on Siri Venkateswara Productions banner. Chota K Naidu handles camera. VV Vinayak is providing story, screenplay and direction. This film is expected to hit marquee in the 1st week of April 2005.

Supergood to remake Tiruppachi
Fuelled by the super success of 'Sankranthi' film, Supergood banner is planning to remake 2005 Sankranthi Tamil blockbuster 'Tiruppachi' (Vijay & Trisha) in Telugu. RB Chowdary is scouting for the right team (cast and crew) for the Telugu version of the same. The title Tiruppachi is named after a town that is famous for manufacturing sickles. We have to wait and see which hero would sign this film.

Prolific heroes - Sivaji & RP
Rajendra Prasad and Sivaji are accepting lots of films these days. They make sure that 3-4 films are releasing every year with regular intervals. At the same time, they are churning out at least a hit an year. When our heroes becoming more and more careful in terms of accepting new ventures, it is nice to see these heroes accepting films left, right and center. On a cautious note, there is a danger of being redundant and a threat of losing brand value if their films fail to satisfy Box Office norms.

18th February 2005

Paruchuri story to Bala Krishna's film
Paruchuri brothers are providing story and dialogues to Bala Krishna's film in the direction of Jayant C Paranji. This film would be produced by MR Prasad on PB Arts banner. Shooting of this film would commence from 2nd week of March and would be completed in a single schedule. This film would be shot in Vizag, Araku, Eduruwada, Hyderabad etc. Mani Sharma would score music. Ajay Vincent handles cinematography. Vikram Dharma would compose action sequences.

Bala Krishna's film with Ambika
A press meet was held today to announce the details about Bala Krishna's film in the direction of AS Ravi Kumar Chowdary. Ambika Arts would produce this film. Speaking on this occasion, Ambika Krishna said that he paid advance to AS Ravi Kumar Chowdary when he was directing his first film Manasutho. He later on forgot about it as Manasutho flopped. After the release of Yagnam, AS Ravi Kumar Chowdary called him up and reminded him about the advance. Ambika Krishna thanked AS Ravi Kumar Chowdary for displaying fine ethics. Bala Krishna would play a different role in this action film. This film would go to floors in the month of May 2005.

18th Feb marks muhurat mania
18th February is said to the best last auspicious day in this month. There are no auspicious days for the next two months as per the priests of Telugu cinema. Hence, lots of films got flagged off (muhurats, poojas, announcements and audio functions) today. The press had a busy time covering these events and press meets.

17th February 2005

Usha's Usharugaa
Usha is releasing her first private album 'Usharuga' on 18th of February 2005 in a function to be held at Necklace Road. Anoop scored the music. A video was also shot to promote this album. Famous cinematographer Rasool worked for this album. Actress Veda is the model of this video song. This album would have six songs penned by the six lyricists including Sirivennela, Chandrabose and Kula Sekhar.

RS Brothers sponsor Sankranthi
Outdoor vinyl publicity of the last couple of films of Venkatesh - Malliswari and Gharshana - was sponsored by Reliance Infocomm. This time they have roped in RS Brothers (a chain of clothing shops) to sponsor 'Sankranthi' film. It also goes with the joint family theme of the film. Censoring of this film is completed and it is all set to release on 18th of February 2005. Muppalaneni Siva directed this Telugu remake of Tamil blockbuster Anandam. Venkatesh, Sneha, Arti Agarwal, Srikanth, Sangeeta, Siva Balaji, Rathi and Sarvanand are playing main leads.

Prasad Group releases The Aviator
PVR Cinemas has taken the distribution rights of 'The Aviator' (Martin Scorsese - Leonardo DiCaprio) film in India. Prasad group has taken the distribution rights of this film in AP. Prasad group previewed this film to press on 16th February. This film is nominated for Oscar Awards in 11 categories. This film is releasing in Prasads Multiplex on 18th of February.

Jumbo censor screening committee
The latest censoring screening committee boasts of 80 members. Most of these members are unknown and unfamiliar. Two of the journalists - P Sarat and Bhageeradha - too made it to this jumbo list. This Jumbo list of censor screening committee has become quite a controversy in the film industry.

Shiva launched
A new film titled 'Shiva' was launched today with a debutant actor Pradeep as hero. Yalamanchi Ravichand produces this film on Sri Sambasiva banner. Shooting of the film started today and film would be completed by April 2005. Chalapati Rao, Bapineedu (Ramoji Film City) and Allari Ravi Babu did the opening honors. Debutant Satyam is providing dialogues, story, screenplay and direction.

15th February 2005

NTR as Narasimhudu
NTR is playing the role of Kondaveeti Narasimha who is called as Narasimhudu by everybody in B Gopal's film. Amisha Patel and Sameera Reddy are playing female leads. Arti Agarwal is doing item song in this film. Ravi Shankar (brother of Sai Kumar) written story for this film. Paruchuri brothers pen dialogues. This film would be released in May 2005. Title of this film would be announced during Ugadi festival. Here is the list of films NTR has committed so far

Shriya in Chatrapati
Shriya is being paired up with Prabhas in SS Rajamouli's next film 'Chatrapati'. Shooting of this film would start on 18th of this month in Vizag. Bhanu Priya, Pradeep Raut, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Narendra Jha, Venu Madhav and LB Sriram play other important roles. Vijayendra Prasad provided story. A Ratnam pens dialogues. Santhil Kumar (Aithe and Sye fame) handles camera. MM Keeravani scores music. BVSN Prasad produces this film on Sri Venkateswara Cine Chitra banner.

Radha Gopalam on 24th Feb
Bapu's latest film 'Radha Gopalam' would be releasing on 24th of this month. Srikanth and Sneha play the main leads. Audio of this film - scred by Mani Sharma - has got very good applause. Mullapudi Venkata Ramana penned story and dialogues. K Anil - who produced Ottesi Chebutunna in the past - is producing this film on Sri Creations banner. Nagababu presents this film.

10th February 2005

Mahesh Babu weds Namrata
Telugu film star Mahesh Babu and ex-Miss India Namrata Sirodkar entered wedlock today (10th February 2005) at Mumbai. Both of them acted together in Padmalaya produced film 'Vamsi'. Rumors of love between them were making rounds through Bollywood film magazines for the past four years. There were strong rumors about Mahesh marriage in the last year. They were supposed to wed in December 2004, but wedding is postponed to 10th February 2005. This ceremony was graced by super star Krishna. Idlebrain.com wishes this newly wed couple a great marital life ahead.

Chakram audio of 18th Feb
Audio of Krishna Vamsi's latest film 'Chakram' with Prabhas as hero would be releasing on 18th of February 2005. Charmy and Asin are playing female leads in this film. Siva Raju and Venkat Raju are producing this film on Geeta Chitra International banner. Chakri scored music. This film is expected to release in the month of March 2005.

Shriya in Tamil Varsham
SP Bala Subramanyam is producing the Tamil version of Telugu blockbuster with Jay Ravi (son of Editor Mohan) as hero. Shriya is playing female lead in this film. Devi Sri Prasad scores music. There is said to be a steamy rain song, which would raise the eyebrows in Tamil version.

9th February 2005

Telugu Times awards
Telugu Times - the first global Telugu news paper - which started functioning from Feb 2004 has completed one year now. On this eve, Telugu Times is coming up with Box Office Film Awards. Ten films (Varsham, Lakshmi Narasimha, Malleswari, Puttintiki Raa Chelli, Arya, Yagnam, Shankar Dada MBBS, Anand, 7/G Brindavan Colony, Leela Mahal Center, Aa Naluguru and Maa) were short listed. The winners would be taken to SFO, USA for awards night which would be organized on the night of 9th April 2005. Telugu Times is also organizing Prathiba Lahari to tap the local Telugu USA talent by conducting dancing and singing competitions in various cities like San Francisco, Detroit, Washington DC and Philadelphia soon. Gemini TV would act as satellite media partner. CV Subba Rao and Prasad Garapati conducted a press meet on 9th February to announce the same.

Orey Pandu songs projected
Songs of SV Krishna Reddy's latest film 'Orey Pandu' were exhibited at Prasad Labs on 9th Feb to the press. SV Krishna Reddy said that this film is having excellent music, songs, dialogues and fights. This film is based on the saying - 'Confidence is the God'. Producer Gireesh Sanghi said that Orey Pandu offers value for money to the audiences. This film has Sachin and Sandali Sinha in the main leads. Orey Pandu is releasing on 11th January 2005.

Four films this week
This week is witnessing four films. Krishna's much delayed film 'Evaru Nenu' is releasing on 10th Feb 2005. SV Krishna Reddy's Orey Pandu is releasing on 11th Feb 2005. Teja's Dhairyam (Nitin, Raima Sen) is releasing on 12th Feb 2005. VN Aditya's Manasu Maata Vinadu (Navdeep & Ankita) is also releasing on 12th Feb. We need to wait and see which film would emerge as winner.

8th February 2005

Namita back to Telugu
Namita who made debut with Sontham worked for a few films and could not attain success. Later on she went to Tamil film industry and acted in 3 films and all these three films turned out to be super hits. Sagar has signed Namita today as heroine for a film starring Raja Sekhar. This film is a remake of Malayalam blockbuster Runway. Kodi Rama Krishna directs this film. Namita is currently in Malaysia to shoot for Hindi film 'Love Ki Chakkar Mein'. Muhurat of Rajasekhar-Namita film would be held on 11th February. Namita is always fond of telugu films and has been longing for success in Telugu for a long time. Let's hope the Namita's re-entry in Telugu would give her a success.

Ravi Shankar story for Mega brothers?
Ravi Shankar is making news after getting selected as story writer for NTR's film in the direction of B Gopal. There is news making rounds that Ravi Shankar would be directing a film with NTR as hero for Durga Arts banner. In an interview given to a newspaper, Ravi Shankar also said that he narrated a story to Chiranjeevi and Pawan Kalyan, which would feature both these brothers as main leads.

Anjali Devi's granddaughter as Heroine
Anu - granddaughter of yesteryear's actress Anjali Devi - is making her debut as an actress very soon. She was signed in a film starring Sivaji. Agastyan (Premalekha and Ee Abbai Chala Manchodu fame) would be directing this film. Anu is born and brought up in USA, but has training in traditional Indian dances like Kuchipudi and Bharatanatyam. Regular shooting of this film would start from 5th March 2005. G Srinivasa Reddy produces this film.

7th February 2005

Nag in Vaadu Nenu
Nagarjuna's latest trendy high budget film in the direction of Puri Jagan is titled as 'Vaadu Nenu'. This film is being produced on Annapurna Studios banner. Ayesha Takia is playing female lead. Sonu Sood, who made his debut with 'Ammayilu Abbayilu' as villain, is doing a vital role in this film. Puri Jagan is always known to title his films in such a way that they raise curiosity about the film among filmgoers. 'Vaadu Nenu' is also no exception.

Chiru film on 9th May
Jagadeka Veerudu Atiloka Sundari and Gang Leader were released on the lucky of 9th May and went on to become record-breaking blockbusters. Chiranjeevi's latest film in the direction of Seenu Vytla would also be releasing on 9th May 2005. Allu Arvind is producing this film on Geeta Arts banner. Talkie part of the film would be complete by the Feb end. The unit would go abroad to shoot a couple of songs. Tabu, Rimmi Sen and Rakshita are doing female leads. Chiranjeevi is playing duel role as father and son.

Sankranthi on 18th Feb
Venkatesh's Sankranthi is all set to release on 18th of February 2005. This film is a remake of Tamil blockbuster Anandam. Sneha, Arti Agarwal, Srikanth, Siva Balaji, Sarvanand, Sangeeta and Rathi are playing other important roles. This film deals with the concept of joint family. Venkatesh, Srikanth, Siva Balaji and Sarvanand are playing brothers. Sarada is acting in film after a gap of almost 7 years. Muppalaneni Siva directs this film on Supergood banner. Incidentally this is 150th film of music director SA Raj Kumar. His 50th film (Subhakankshalu) and 100th film (Nuvvu Vastavani) went on to become blockbusters.

4th February 2005

Bala Krishna acquitted
Film star Bala Krishna is acquitted from the alleged shooting case due to lack of evidences by the magistrate of Nampally's Additional Metropolitan Court. Bellamkonda Suresh and Satyanarayana Chowdary admitted on the night of 3rd July with severe bullet injuries. The police have filed FIR on Bala Krishna based on the information given by the injured people. But later on Bellamkonda Suresh and Satyanarayana Chowdary stated under oath that Bala Krishna did not perform shooting on them. The magistrate also refused the plea by police of state government to transfer the inquiry to CBI.

Dhairyam on 11th Feb
Teja's latest film Dhairyam is hitting marquee on 11th of this month on the eve of Valentine's Day. Nitin played the Nizam youngster who speaks in Telangana dialect. Raima Sen (daughter of Moonmoon Sen) is paired up with Nitin. This film is a love story between a poor boy and rich girl. Anoop scored music. Kula Sekhar penned lyrics. Narayan Das Narang and Sudhakar Reddy produced this film on Asian Entertainments banner.

Film's influence on killer
J Srinivasa Reddy - the self-proclaimed killer of political leader and movie producer Paritala Ravi - declared in an interview given to a popular TV channel that he is heavily influenced by the Tyagarajan character of 'Antima Teerpu' film. Tyagarajan played the role of a killer who gives up his life to achieve his friend's target. Here is one example of how our films affect the movie lovers in a bad way.

3rd February 2005

Raja Sekhar in Runway remake
Hero Dr. Raja Sekhar would be acting in the Telugu remake of Malayalam blockbuster 'Runway'. This film would be produced by director Sagar and directed by Kodi Rama Krishna. Shooting of this film would start on 11th of February. 4th February is the birthday of Raja Sekhar. Idlebrain.com wishes Raja Sekhar a happy birthday.

Siddardh does his own dubbing
An actor is not complete unless he dubs his voice for the role he plays. The non-Telugu actors like Prakash Raj and Amrish Puri attained stardom in Telugu films due to the same quality of dubbing their voice. Here one unassuming perfectionist who contributes to his character in his own humble way. Hero Siddardh made it a point that he dubs his voice for his roles in Yuva and NVNV. Since these characters are of contemporary posh youth type, dubbing of Siddardh turned out to be natural. His dialogue delivery helped in believability and characterization of his character as well.

4 films this week
Four films would be hitting marquee this week. Keelu Gurram (Kodi Rama Krishna - Rohit, Rajesh, Nakul, Baladitya, Tanu Roy), 786 (Sashikant, Yana Sheik - KS Nageswara Rao) and Are (Keshav Teerdha & Mounika) are releasing on 4th February. Pandem (Jagapati Babu, Kalyani - Sabhapati) is releasing on 4th February. There are many more films lined up for the next week as well.

1st February 2005

Nagarjuna as Bhakta Ramadasu
Nagarjuna acted as Annamayya (great Telugu poet and an ardent devotee of Lord Venkateswara) and it went on to become a super hit and one of the greatest films ever made in Telugu. The team of Nagarjuna - K Raghavendra Rao - MM Keeravani - JK Bharavi is going to repeat the magic again soon. This time Nagarjuna is going to don the role of 'Bhakta Ramadasu' (great Telugu poet and an ardent devotee of Lord Rama). MM Keeravani recently visited Bhadrachalam and other related historic places to get a better understanding about Ramadasu's work. The script is already finalized. A famous actor would be playing the role of Lord Rama in this film. More details about this great epic later!

Editor Shankar directs Nitin
Editor Shankar is directing the latest film of Nitin. Genelia is paired up with Nitin in this film. A song is being picturised in Annapurna studios from 27th of January in the choreography of Lawrence. Marudhuri Raja provides dialogues. Kalyani Malik scores music. Ashok is the art director. Harish, Pradeep and Vijaya Kumar are jointly producing this film on Kamadhenu Movies banner. Shooting of talkie part of this film would start from 6th February onwards.

Writer Ravi Shankar slightly injured
Writer Ravi Shankar (bother of hero Sai Kumar) who is providing story for NTR's latest film in the direction of B Gopal was slightly injured tonight at the 70-lakh worth colony set erected in 7 acres of Annapurna when a light accidentally fallen on his head. Injury was a minor one and it was taken care of immediately. Ravi Shankar recently directed a Kannada blockbuster. He is currently involving a lot in making of NTR's film as well. This film has Amisha Patel and Sameera Reddy in the main leads. Chengala Venkat Rao produces this film.

Sivarathri sentiment for Sankranthi
Venkatesh's films with Supergood banner - Suryavamsam and Raja - were released during Siva Rathri time and they went on to become super hits. Sankranthi film is also releasing in the second half of February on the eve of Sivarathi. This film is the 150th film of music director SA Raj Kumar. Sankranthi is expected to release with 175-200 prints in 3rd week of February 2005.

Chitrapuri for Cine Workers
Tammareddy Bharadwaja - Secretary of AP Cine Workers Co-operative Society - informed press today that the housing colony for Cine Workers in the name of 'Chitrapuri' is being constructed in a land of 67 acres. This colony would employ 4008 families. The construction would be completed by December 2006. Sankhustapana of the same would be done by CM YS Rajasekhara Reddy in this month end.

Jagapati Babu in Jonnalagadda direction
Jagapati Babu would be acting in a mass film to be directed by Jonnalagadda Srinivasa Rao soon. This film would be produced by M Ramalinga Raju (son of famous producer Arjuna Raju). M Ramalinga Raju produced 'Maa Alludu Very Good' in the past. This film is expected to go to floors in this month.

Kalyani's marriage on 1st May
Cine actress Kalyani is going to enter the wedlock with the director Soorya Kiran (Satyam fame) on 1st May 2005. This marriage would happen at the home town of Kalyani followed by reception at Hyderabad. Their engagement happened on 23rd of January 2005.